Walking Dead 1. Prologue

**A/N: hey everybody! God, let me first start out by telling you guys how wonderful you are. The reviews and the (mostly) kind words, along with all the favorites and the follows mean the absolute world to me. It really helps, especially with all the shit going on.**

**So I've had this idea floatin' in my brain for a while now, I just absolutely love the dynamic of a season 4 AU, especially some of them that I've read (waste of an arrow, and heavy) to name a few.**

**So here goes nothing. Love you guys, hope you love this as much as you loved MY FIRST COMPLETED FANFIC EVER (Flame in the Darkness)**

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_look·ing glass_

_noun_

_a mirror._

_"she stared at her reflection in the looking glass"_

_being or involving the opposite of what is normal or expected._

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"Through The Looking Glass." She said quietly, staring out the guard tower and into the darkness of the night outside. They had elected to take the first watch of the night after dark, something that he never would have imagined occurring when he first met the youngest Greene sister, but now he couldn't imagine it any other way.

Daryl wondered what the hell she was talking about, he felt as though he could see the gears turning in her head as she stared off into the distance with that thoughtful look gracing her features effortlessly. Her head was in her hands, her elbows perched on the ledge of the tower, her back arched slightly to accommodate her position.

"I can't help but think about it, you know. Times the way they are now." She stopped to bite her lip softly, that same look on her face, "things the way they are now."

"Ya lost me." He said, leaning over the guard tower ledge just as she was and blowing his inhaled smoke out of his nose slowly. He stared at the smoke as it swirled and withered into the air outside, watching it disappear as he tried to figure out what point she was trying to get across.

"It's a book." She said, looking up to him with those huge doe eyes of hers, fiddling with a stray hair that had fallen from the bun she had secured to the top of her head. "You _said_ you liked to read." She said questioningly with a quiet voice, a laugh gracing her lips ever so slightly. He merely grunted in response, shaking his head slightly.

"It's from Alice in wonderland." She clarified. Daryl ducked his head down, "still ain't got a clue what you're talkin' about." He said, flicking the end of his cigarette out and away from them as he watched it fall out of sight and into the darkness.

"The looking glass. It's like.. it's like a mirror." She said, reaching up and undoing her messy bun, letting her hair fall down and around her shoulders as she began threading her fingers through it. It was few and far between when Daryl caught sight of her with her hair down, he felt his breath hitch as she tousled it over her head, shaking it slightly. The girl took his breath away without even fucking trying.

He coughed, clearing his throat as he attempted to focus on anything other than her at the moment, if that were even possible.

"A mirror?" He questioned.

"Yes, a _mirror_." She said, her tone raising an octave as she attempted to sound annoyed. "Through the looking glass, things are different. Things aren't what they usually would be." She said thoughtfully.

"I still don't get it." He said, scratching his head. He was trying though, but he hadn't a damn clue what she was getting at.

"It ain't a perfect world anymore Daryl, but that doesn't mean this version of the world can't be perfect." She sighed dramatically, "it's like a clock that doesn't turn clockwise, but turns counterclockwise." She looked over to Daryl who had his eyes trained on her, and she had to laugh at the expression on his face, he was looking at her like she had two heads.

"Just because something isn't exactly normal, doesn't mean it isn't perfectly imperfect." She said, lying her head on her arms as she looked over to him, still leaning over the ledge but not doing any "watch duty" as they should be doing, really.

"I can't tell if you're making fun of me or not, Greene." He grumbled, leaning off of the ledge and rolling his shoulders, the ache from the long day setting in, and the position leaning over the wall wasn't helping any.

"I'm not making fun of you Daryl, the opposite, really." Daryl stared at her until she lifted herself away from the wall, walking forwards into his arms, wrapping them around his torso and pressing the side of her face against his chest.

"Things might not be what they used to be, but they're perfect Daryl. This is perfect."

"How can you say that?" Daryl asked. Now he was really confused. The shit around them was not perfect in any way. Walkers, living in a prison, worrying when the governor was going to show back up. Those were only a few of the issues they faced daily. That being said, how in the hell is any of that perfect?

"Because it is."

"You call living in a prison, fighting walkers, and worrying about how long we have here perfect?" He said, lifting her face to make her look at him. Now, he was really worried about what was going on in that head of hers.

"Nothing is as it seems, through the looking glass." She said with growing emphasis.

"You're startin' to worry me, Greene. Did you fall and hit your head or somethin'?"

She giggled, resting her chin on his chest so she could look at him in the eyes, "we're the clock going backwards Daryl, don't you see? Someone on the outside would look at all of this - the world, the walkers, where we live, you and I - and it wouldn't make sense but,"

"But what?" He said. She lifted her chin up to place her lips to his before backing up and staring into his eyes, clasping her hands on either side of his face.

"It makes sense to me."


	2. Chapter 1

Light was what woke Daryl up that particular morning, burning his eyes even through his closed eyelids. It was odd, only because he usually was the first one awake through the entire cell block. He'd always be the one up, usually before the sun even was completely risen, taking it upon himself to do a once over of the cell block, maybe check on the kids in A block or take care of some of the buildup around the fences. Not that he minded, though. He was used to waking up at the ass-crack of dawn as far back as he could remember. He'd wake up early enough while his dad was still comatose from the night before, usually perched on the couch with a liquor bottle in his grasp as the hand holding it laid over the side, snoring wildly as Daryl would creep past him and out the front door. Other than that, hunting through the woods usually required early rising, getting out in the woods and setting up in order to catch whatever he could to eat that day. Especially with merle, he was quite particular about being out in the woods as early as possible, a character trait that didn't really suit his volatile and erratic brother. That scenario too was familiar now, only he wasn't hunting just for his own survival now, but for the others as well.

When he finally, and reluctantly opened his eyelids, he saw rick standing in the doorway, hand holding the privacy curtain open, which he came to realize is why the sun woke him up. He silently chastised himself for picking a cell that was in direct view of one of the windows to the outside.

He pressed his palms to his eyes, rubbing slightly to try and shake the exhausting from them and himself. He didn't wake up on his own accord, and people usually never woke him, so he knew that if rick was standing there he had a damn good reason to be.

"Everything alright?" He managed, his voice low and raspy from sleeping. He was fully clothed when he has gone to bed the night before, just never bothered to change out of them before he tried to go to sleep. Rick merely nodded, adjusting baby Judith who was perched on the side of his hip chewing on a small rattle he had retrieved from a run with Maggie and Glenn a few weeks prior. He scratched his chin lightly, watching Daryl as he stood to his feet and grabbed his crossbow off of the ground next to his bed.

"Everything's fine, just wanted to make sure you're okay, I know yesterday was rough." Daryl grunted in response. _Rough_ was quite the understatement. He fell asleep hearing the screams from the young Woodbury resident as his calf was ripped open on the fucking disaster of a run yesterday. Calling it a 'run' didn't even feel right, if Daryl was being honest with himself. It was such a fucking catastrophic failure that it followed him into his dreams, and into his thoughts that very morning.

"Did anyone talk to Beth? I know her and Zach were close." Daryl set his crossbow back on the ground when he realized it wasn't needed at the moment, feeling a slight chill was running through his body and the sleeveless shirt wasn't doing anything to help that problem. He fished through his shit trying to find one of his flannels to replace it with.

"Yeah, talked to her last night." Daryl replied finally, running a hand through his hair. That whole scenario was another thing that didn't leave his mind as hard as he tried. His mind had been assaulted with the blank look on her face from last night, mixed with Zach's pleas for help. It was an odd, and fucking frustrating combination.

On top of it all, he wasn't even exactly sure why he had been the one to volunteer to tell the girl the news. Truth be told, over the past year since they'd been at the prison and the year before that on the road and at the farm, the two barely ever exchanged more that a few words or a passing glance. When he stood in the yard as the gates closed behind him, everyone sort of left to the ones they were with. Sasha and Tyreese who stayed in D block had walked off together, Tyreese walking her to her cell and then to see Karen. Michonne was... well, she was Michonne. She didn't really need to say what she was doing or where she was going, she just disappeared into the night as she had countless times before into C block, Bob following in suit behind her to his own cell, likely still uneasy after his own close call at the store.

That was when he had realized he was standing there by the dodge just with Glenn.

"I gotta go talk to beth." Glenn had said with an exasperated breath, running a hand through his hair, pulling his Kevlar chest piece off of his body. "But I gotta go to Maggie first. She's probably worried." He tossed the Kevlar into the bed of the truck.

"You go to Maggie, I'll tell beth." He replied, almost not even believing the words as they came out of his own mouth.

"You sure? I mean, if I know anything about the Greene's it's that they're really difficult when they're pissed off or upset." Glenn sent him a wry smile as they walked in turn towards the cell block.

"I'll manage." He replied, Glenn nodded, casting by him an uneasy glance. He knew Glenn was probably a bit out off that him of all people would be the one to tell beth about what had happened. Not that he could blame him though, he wasn't exactly a people person of sorts. He wasn't an idiot, he knew he came off as unapproachable and like he didn't have emotion. But he had grown to know Zach over the past year. On the coal crew which Daryl had worked on from time to time, he found himself often next to the kid listening to him talk about bullshit all damn day. He wanted beth to know there wasn't anything he or anyone else for that matter could have done to have made a different outcome.

He continued walking past all the cells to stop at the doorway of Beth's. He stood just out of sight of it at first, silently praying to himself that she was asleep so he could avoid this all together, because even though he offered to do this he wasn't exactly sure just how he was going to do it.

_Grow some balls, Dixon_.

He took a deep breath, walking quietly forward until he was just at the edge of the doorway. She didn't budge at first, just wrote in her journal diligently, biting softly on her bottom lip as she concentrated. She looked so innocent, so out of place in a world like this. It seemed like every time the young girl got even a glimmer of happiness, it was all but ripped out from underneath her.

And If all that wasn't enough, when he got to the doorway of her cell and she acknowledged him, when she finally realized what he was standing there for, she barely flinched. He felt his throat constrict, suddenly feeling incredibly stupid to think he could handle this. What the hell was he supposed to say? And more importantly, how the hell did he go about saying it?

"Hey." She said, her pen not lifting up from the paper of her journal as she stared at him, trying to read the emotions on his face.

"Hey." He replied back. Quietly, darting his eyes from her notebook, to the wall behind her, her pillow, the god damn floor, anywhere but her face. She studied him for a moment, her brows furrowing slightly, but he could tell that she already had an idea of why he was there.

"Zach." He managed to choke out, looking at the ground, staring so hard he felt he was going cross eyed momentarily.

She looked down, seeming to finally understand exactly why he was there.

"Is he dead?" She asked. Her face growing stoic and emotionless. Her expression looked blank, free of any emotion at all, and that scared the shit out of him. He nodded, not able to find his voice as he struggled in the position he was in. He couldn't say sorry, he wasn't even sure if that would be the right thing to say in that moment. After all, he knew it was an accident. But he knew that didn't change anything. The kid was still dead.

"Okay." She said, his eyes snapped up to watch her as she swung her legs up and off of the side of the bed. She drew in a breath in through her nose and out through her mouth slowly before raising herself to her feet. Suddenly interested, Daryl's eyes followed her as she reached to a sign up on top of her desk, changing the days without an accident on the board from thirty to zero. She held the card with the number three that she removed and stared at it for a moment, holding it in her hands and looking at it again with that blank face that left him uneasy. She must have noticed eyes on her, because she slowly tore her eyes away from it to look up at him. She must have seen the look on his face and when she did she simply sent him the same blank stare and said "what?" She said it so nonchalantly that it freaked him out even more.

He shook his head, frowning slightly at her question. He wasn't sure what to say, he knew why he was staring - the girl was just told someone she was close to was dead and she said nothing but "okay." That struck him as odd, and he had a momentary flashback of her bandaged wrist after she had sliced it open with the blade of a steak knife. He found it hard to believe they were even the same person.

"I don't cry anymore, Daryl." She said. "I'm just glad I got to know him, you know?" She searched his face for what he figured was a confirmation of what she just said. He nodded again, looking down at the ground._ How the hell did he follow that one up?_

That's when he was even more surprised. "Are you okay?" She asked, the first emotion since he had walked into her cell graced her features, but it wasn't sadness or grief, it was genuine concern. Concern for him.

He was shocked, the tables had been completely turned on him and he wasn't exactly sure how it happened. Maybe Glenn's unvoiced concern for him doing this was right, he wasn't cut out for this shit.

But he considered her words, was he okay? Well yeah. But did it change a damn thing that happened? Of course not. As safe as the prison was, it seemed as though they lost someone every now and again. Death was a constant part of this life, he knew that. Hell, it was a constant part of the life before the apocalypse too. He was just tired. Tired of watching people die in front of him. Tired of them haunting his dreams every god damn night.

"Just tired of losing people, that's all." He said with a slight shrug of his shoulders. He had to stay strong for these people, no matter what happened. The last thing he needed was the girl to think he was growing soft or incapable of handling shit like this.

He'd been startled too, especially when she had gone to put her arms around him they way that she had. It was unexpected, and once he realized what she was doing he couldn't help but flinch. He couldn't recall the last time he hugged someone - if he ever had - and he felt frozen in place. And when she finally pulled away, and looked up at him, he felt like he was the deer in headlights. He never really realized that over the recent years, beth was no longer a child. It was clear that she wasn't especially as he found himself lost somewhere between her earlobe and the slope of her neck. Her eyes looking at him like they could read his every thought, and that scared the shit out of him too. It was like a switch had been turned on, probably in the worst way possible. Beth was tucked into the category of 'little girl' in his mind for so long, that when he finally realized that she wasn't, his mind was reeling uncontrollably

The girl was beautiful, there was no denying that. He didn't know why he was just now seeing it, of course on the night he had to tell her her damn boyfriend was dead. Perfect fucking timing, as it was with everything else in his life.

"Didn't take you for the one to be consoling the teenagers around this place." Rick said, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. Ricks voice snapped him away from his thoughts as he watched him crane his head to the side, looking down the ways of the cell block. Daryl assumed he was looking for beth, considering she was the topic of their current hushed conversation.

"I ain't." He said curtly, searching for his cigarettes on the small table in the corner of his cell amidst the other shit he had piled on it, long sleeve flannel draped over his shoulder. "She didn't react. Didn't say anything really now that I'm thinking about it." Daryl said quietly,sending a glance over his shoulder at rick. That was a damn lie of course, but he didn't feel right saying to rick that she had gone completely emotionless when he talked to her. He didn't feel it was his place to do so, anyway.

"I'll talk to her, she's watching Judy for a while today." Rick said, concern evident in his eyes. He watched rick as he dropped the privacy curtain back and retreated back to where he came from. Daryl let out a huff of air, finally feeling able to breathe again now that he was alone he could change his shirt. Something that most of the other men might not even think twice about, but for him, shit was different and everyone knew that. They didn't ask, thankfully. But he knew everyone had heard the stories. Hell, it wasn't hard to put two and two together.

He changed his shirt, still haunted by Beth's damn emotionless expression as he grabbed his cigarettes and dragged himself across the hallway of the cell block and through their makeshift dining room. He walked through it quickly, not really ready for the questions and the look of despair on the Woodbury residents that he just knew were there. He elected to go outside by himself and just have a cigarette in peace. Maybe work on the bike for a while. He felt like the air inside the prison was tight, feeling a little more at ease as he walked outside. But that thought was interrupted as quickly as it had began when he heard the sound of the banter he heard coming his way. Merle, of course. Merle never seemed to ever be able to shut his god damn mouth.

"I'm just sayin'" he heard him before he saw him "If y'all woulda just let ol' Merle go on the trip, maybe the little pip squeak would have came home safe and sound." He glanced from his position on the wall, one leg propped against it as he took his first long drag watching merle as he rounded the corner, Carol at least five steps ahead of him shaking her head with one of the laundry baskets tucked against her side. She sent Daryl a small smile that didn't reach her eyes, he knew immediately Merle must have been getting on her last nerve just like he did with everyone else, himself included.

"Baby brother, been lookin' for ya this mornin'." He said, clearly deviating from his original plan to piss carol off this morning and turn his sights to Daryl. Daryl didn't say anything in return, just cast him a glance hoping he would just drop the damn subject. "Started to think you was cryin' in your cell, what with all that happened yesterday." Merle smiled his usual condescending and sarcastic smile, rocking back and forth on his heels and clearly amused with himself. Again, Daryl merely rolled his eyes. He wasn't in the mood for Merle's shit this morning. Come to think of it, he was never in the mood.

"Ain't you got somewhere else to be?" Daryl growled, cigarette still hanging loosely from his lips.

"Oh, come on now darylina, that ain't no way to talk to your family." He said, grinning wildly. He never gave up on just pushing everyone's damn buttons around here. Not a damn thing had changed since they were kids.

"You enjoyin' yourself?" Daryl asked, sending him a glare from the corner of his eye.

"I'm screwin' with ya!" Merle said, clapping Daryl on the shoulder. "Just sayin' I shoulda been able to come with ya, ain't doin no good standing 'round here wasting space."

"There's plenty a shit to do 'round here." Daryl replied, taking another drag. "Make yourself useful."

"I coulda made myself useful on that little escapade of yours!"

"You don't work well with others, merle. You wouldn't a done anything but cause more shit and you know it." Daryl tossed his cigarette into the grass, leaning away from the wall and heading back inside, leaving merle to do whatever the hell it was he did around here, which he knew wasn't much. As far as Daryl and everyone else was concerned, that was all merle did. Wasted space.

The dull smell of something cooking caught his attention when he walked back through the dining hall, he hadn't really noticed how hungry he was until that moment, his stomach aching for some sort of sustenance made itself apparent as the smell invaded his nostrils. He made his way over to the pot of whatever the hell it was, reluctantly. One of the Woodbury residents - Sharon, he thought - was the one watching over it. As he approached she sent him a weary glance. He knew what was on her mind, but he wasn't about to get into it with anyone right now. Merle had a way of putting him in a more foul mood than usual.

He reached out to grab the bowl as soon as she finished preparing it, and walked off, sitting down across from Glenn and Maggie who were currently stuffing their faces with the same thing, oatmeal, he came to figure out.

he ate quickly, avoiding the conversation between the two as best he could. He never was one for social interactions, the least of all ones between Maggie and Glenn who never seemed to stop eye fucking each other wherever they went. They talked somewhat about other places to check out that were near the big spot, strategies for the fences considering the buildup around the towers were getting worse and worse by the day. Daryl grunted his way through the conversation, trying to just finish his meal and get the hell out of there. He finished, placing the bowl back near Sharon, and walked off towards his cell, looking for his crossbow. Today was just not his god damn day, and If everyone was going to be in his area and in his damn business before it had even hit noontime. he figured it'd be best probably to go hunt. Maybe catch a buck this time, and not eat more squirrel and rabbit that rick had been catching in the snares. It was better than nothing, but it'd been a while since he had some venison.

"Son of a bitch!" He stopped at the hushed and frustrated voice at beth as he was passing her cell on the way to his own. He couldn't help the smirk that played on his lips, he wasn't sure he'd ever heard beth sound aggravated, much less heard her cuss. He peeked past her privacy curtain to see her placing the baby on the ground of her cell, turning and cutting him off guard when she locked eyes with his.

"Oh. Hey, Daryl." She said quietly. He realized why she was frustrated when he looked at her t shirt, covered in some kind of mess that he imagined was from the baby spitting up on her.

"Ya alright?" He asked, stepping further into her cell. He knew she took care of the baby most of the time, and shit like this probably happened more often than not, but he still felt the need to offer the girl a hand. She let out a sigh, digging through her stuff to find what he assumed was a different shirt to put on.

"I'm fine, just a little frazzled is all." She said, turning her back to Daryl and carefully pulling the shirt over her head, as not to get any of the mess on her hair or herself. He was startled at first that she just took her shirt off in his presence, but he forced himself to look away, averting his eyes anywhere but her out of respect until she started talking again. " I wanted to thank you," she said, pulling her white tank top over her shoulders. "You know, for yesterday." He finally tore his eyes from her bare back to her eyes when she turned to look at him.

He didn't respond, simply looked at her as she adjusted her tank around her waist.

"Daryl?" She said. "Are you alright?" He snapped his head upwards, realizing he was gawking at her like a damn high school kid.

He nodded, keeping his eyes trained on anything but her. "You need any help?"

She smiled, probably the first genuine smile he really noticed from beth in the amount of time that he'd known her.

"I'm okay, thanks though." She said sending him another smile, scooping Judith back up and into her hip just as rick had her placed on his earlier.

"Alright." He said quietly, turning on his heels to continue back on towards his cell.

"Hey Daryl?" Beth called after him before he got out of sight. He stopped and returned back, raising an eyebrow and prompting her to continue.

"I just - can we keep last night between us? I really don't feel like dealing with my dad or Maggie thinking I've lost my mind." She was staring at the floor, averting her eyes as she made her request known.

"Mhmm. You got it, Greene." He said. She looked back up to him, sending him yet another small smile before turning back her attention to the baby. He shuffled out of there before she could call after him again, grabbing his crossbow and hauling it over his shoulder as he made his way back to the outside.

He needed to clear his damn mind, the only way he knew how.

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**A/N: so I kept merle alive for this story because I just loved his character so much. She me.**

**leave some love, as always, y'all are the greatest.**

**-stephanie**


	3. Chapter 2

"Good morning Bethy." Her fathers voice caught her attention as she walked out of the prison door, her eyes felt heavy this morning from being up and down with Judith all throughout the night. She was pretty sure with the red tinge encircling her eyes and the bags that had formed underneath, everyone probably assumed shed been crying all night. Hell, it would have made sense. But that was _far_ from the truth.

The chill in the air was something special, she figured it was getting close to fall and she was thankful for that. She kept Judith inside most of the summer, the heat was not only too much for the baby, but her pale skin would turn red after being out there herself for more than an hour at a time. She made a small mental note to ask the next group who went on the run to pick up some sunscreen if they could find any.

The little girl just didn't seem to be content with anything last night, waking up wailing so loud she thought she was going to wake the entire cell block. She had made her a bottle in the middle of the night, tried to sing softly to keep her quiet and possibly get her to fall back asleep, but it took hours before it worked and the child finally gave into her weariness.

If she were to be honest with herself, she wasn't exactly sure how she ended up being selected as the surrogate mother of Judith, for all intents and purposes.

"Good morning, daddy." She called back. She rolled her shoulders as she sat down on the bench next to him. Her arms and the spot between her shoulder blades ached something awful from coddling the child all throughout the night, not to mention the fact that she did fence duty with Alanna and Jordan from Woodbury earlier into the day before as well. The exertion had her all sorts of wound up in her muscles. She sent her dad a smile as he looked over at her and she smiled back, leaning her body into his shoulder.

"You feelin alright, Bethy?" He asked, the arm he had wrapped around her ran up her arm soothingly. She nodded into him, staring out into the prison yard, watching the few Woodbury residents take out the walkers near tower three. She tried to enjoy the small moment with her father, despite the distant groaning of the walkers near the fence line.

"With the weather changing, I'm gonna say it's starting to look like September right about now." Hershel commented. Beth merely nodded again in response, finding her eyelids drooping as her head continued to lean into her fathers shoulder. "You know, that means you'll be turning 19." He finished. Beth raised her head up and sat up straight, meeting the soft smile on her old mans face.

"Don't think things like that matter much anymore, daddy." She replied, absent mindedly fiddling her fingers in her lap.

"Course they do." He said, nudging her a little in the shoulder to which she smiled up at him in return. "Besides, I'm not the only one who noticed. Your sisters the one who brought it to my attention yesterday morning."

Beth frowned, because _god_ that's _exactly_ what she needed, Maggie riling up everyone in the damn prison for a birthday antic that she was almost positive nobody cared about. There were plenty of things that needed the attention that would be directed at her, and whenever she got ahold of Maggie she'd make sure to remind her exactly what they were. Maggie had thrown a birthday celebration for her back in high school, and from what she remembered, it was anything but subtle. She cringed inwardly at the memory.

She was so pissed off at Maggie for about a week, causing a huge commotion in the lunch room when she had somehow convinced her friends to sing happy birthday at the top of their lungs in front of everybody at first lunch. She had been mortified over public displays like that for so long and Maggie was well aware of it.

That's why she didn't put it past her sister to organize some ridiculously unnecessary shenanigan in her favor. She was almost 100% sure Maggie had already devised said plan, and everyone was in on it already.

"Oh, great." Beth murmured under her breath. "Speaking of Maggie.. Where is she?" Hershel pointed up towards one of the guard towers with a wry smile, beth simply rolled her eyes in return before standing up and heading back inside. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why Maggie was in the guard tower. It was safe to assume that Glenn and Maggie were up on watch, but not doing any watch duty in _any_ sense of the phrase.

She walked through the small hallway and into the cell block, searching for Judith, and smiled when she laid eyes on the little girl. Judith tore her attention away from the small plastic multicolored blocks in front of her when she saw beth approaching, reaching her hands out in her direction mumbling small incoherent words out of her little mouth.

"Oh no you don't." A hand on her shoulder stopped her, carols she came to realize as she glanced at the woman. "Don't think I didn't hear that child up all night giving you grief. You need to rest, go on." Beth sent a smile up to the woman as she squeezed her shoulder lightly, reaching down to pick up Judith and walked her over to the small playpen Michonne rick and Carl had acquired a few weeks ago.

Beth sighed, not that she didn't appreciate a day off so to speak, but she had an overwhelming urge lately to help out with something - _anything_. She walked towards her cell, pinning up the privacy curtain for some light as she grabbed her journal and placed it underneath her arm.

"Miss beth?" Beth turned around to see little Mika Samuels standing in the doorway. She smiled warmly, walking up and tucking a lock of her golden blonde hair behind her ear. "What's going on?" She asked, "everything alright?"

The little girl grinned, reaching for her hand "would you want to read to us for story time today?" Beth held back the frown threatening to spread across her features. _Is that all she was ever good for? Babysitting?_

"Of course. I got some things to take care of first." She said. "After lunch, you go get luke and the others and I'll meet you in the library."

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The sun had started to set through the library windows when beth finally brought story time to a close.

"Miss beth, who put Harry's name into the goblet of fire?" Luke, the small curly brown haired boy asked thoughtfully.

She had been surprisingly excited when the kids had informed her that carol was in the process of reading them one of the books from the Harry potter trilogy. She loved those books growing up.

"Well," beth said, closing the book and placing it next to her, lifting her hands over her head in an attempt to stretch her back and shoulders out. She let out a sigh. "You're gonna have to wait to find out. Don't want to spoil it for you!" She said, reaching out and tapping him on the nose, earning a smile. "We're only on chapter 17, and the good stuffs just starting." She said, standing to her feet and placing the book back in the stack.

"Now go on, I'm sure everyone's waiting on us, dinners gonna be ready soon."

Beth watched as the kids filed out of the library before turning her attention to straightening up the room. Books were scattered, a map of Georgia lay outstretched on the table, playing cards were scattered across the floor in one area along with a few comic books. _Carl_, she thought inwardly, shaking her head and smiling while she cleaned up.

There were very few things that brought a smile to her face lately, she came to realize. One of them being the children. More specifically, when the children were happy. The faces on the kids as she read them the stories was enough to put her at ease. So innocent and full of wonder, listening to the story so closely and with so much interest she felt happy inside, even if it were only for about an hour.

She had that look before, back when she was in grade school. Listening to her first grade teacher read excerpts from the book they were reading as the classmates of hers sat around her. Hands holding their heads up and elbows on their knees as they all became so engrossed with the story. She missed that feeling, and even though she felt as though she'd never feel it again, the fact that the kids did was more than enough for her.

She'd lost all faith recently, at least in that she didn't have to worry about losing anyone anymore. Zach's death only proved that to her. With Glenn and Maggie going out on the runs most of the time, along with Daryl and occasionally Michonne, something was bound to happen. She was sure of it.

Not to mention her father, who was she kidding? Her father who she loved dearly was creeping slowly into his early seventies. Being in a apocalypse alone is one thing, but being in an apocalypse when your an elder? Throw in the fact that he only had one fully functional leg, and that's just a full on accident waiting to happen.

She turned around, intending on picking up the playing cards from the ground when she locked eyes on Daryl leaning on one of the stacks only feet away from her, nearly jumping out of her own damn skin.

"Jesus, Daryl! You scared the shit out of me." She said quietly, placing a hand on her chest to calm her heart that threatened to burst out of her chest.

He smiled that halfway smile that was rare for anyone to see, but it was the only one he really offered, the one that didn't reach his eyes. She tried to think of anytime she ever heard him laugh or even smiled to the point where maybe his eyes crinkled a little bit, but she came up empty.

"You like sneaking up on people? That seems to be your thing lately." She said, resuming her cleaning, Daryl raised an eyebrow, somewhat shocked it seemed at her snarky reply. She couldn't tell if he was put off by it or slightly amused.

"You comin' to dinner? Maggie's been looking for you." He finally said, chewing on the end of his thumb with one hand, the other gripping the strap of his crossbow loosely.

"Oh is she?" Beth rolled her eyes. She was suddenly hyper aware of her attitude, and she wasn't sure why she was directing it at him of all people. She ran a hand through her hair, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry," she said exasperated, "I'm not trying to be bitchy, today's just not my day." She finally said, leaning on the stack in front of Daryl and closing her eyes.

"It's been a rough couple a days." He offered.

She took a deep breath, trying to keep her commentary to herself. She knew he was more than likely referring to the entire situation with Zach, but truth be told, she had a plethora of other things on her mind and Zach wasn't one of them.

"Just tired of only being good for one thing." She said quietly, scuffing one of her boots across the linoleum floor.

"And what's that?" He replied. She looked up to him surprised. Daryl was never the one to talk or much less pry into other people's business to see what was going on, much less her business. He was so closed off and most of the time he kept to himself, so the fact that he seemed to actually be genuinely interested in what was aggravating her surprised her.

"Being the damn babysitter. Seems that's all anyone ever needs me for." She replied, avoiding his eye contact. He didn't reply, and she wasn't surprised in the least. She tapped the toe of her boot behind her a few beats, ready to get the hell out of there.

"What do you wanna do then?" He asked. Her eyes shot up to his.

"Something useful?" She said, trying to get the point across that she was good for other things. She knew she wasn't Maggie, and she sure as shit wasn't Michonne, but she knew she could do something to help out.

"It's stupid." She said, leaning away from the stacks and trying to make her exit when she felt a firm hand grip her bicep. She turned her head and raised an eyebrow at him.

"It ain't stupid." He said, releasing his grip and walking with her out of the library. "Tell you what, I'm going on a run in a few days to the next town over, Judith needs formula and were running low on some stuff in the kitchen." He said. She stopped walking at the entrance to the cell block and he stepped in front to face her.

She couldn't help but smile, and genuinely smile. She was actually going to be able to go on a run?

"Quit brainin' at me Greene and pay attention." He said sternly, she nodded, wiping her stupid grin off of her face quickly.

"One condition - you need to train with me the next couple a days, ain't no way I'm bringing your ass out there if ya can't take care of ya self." He said, "I'm gonna talk to the council about it tonight, don't go running your mouth to your sister about it neither, at least not til I talk them into it." She nodded as he opened the gate to the cell block and walked through to the dining area.

She knew that if they agreed this was her chance, she'd finally break out of the damn mold of babysitter and be able to be held up to par with the others.

_I'll be damned if I screw this up._


	4. Chapter 3

Dinner went by quicker than Daryl would have liked it to.

And not only because he hadn't completely figured out how he was going to handle the council meeting within the next hour, but because he had found himself completely enthralled with watching beth as he ate.

She was standing by the edge of the wall between the dining hall and the cell block, hip cocked out to the side bouncing Judith gently on it, coaxing her as she spoke to carol about something. He couldn't hear exactly - what they were saying to each other, and not that it really mattered. He was more or less paying attention to just the sound of her voice. The sound of her voice that was muffled by the distance between them. Her voice was strong, but innocent. It conveyed her in such a way that he was honestly surprised that anyone around here treated her like a child.

She had innocence, but strength to her. She had a way of being so strong and womanly, while remaining youthful and full of life. Something that Daryl knew was rare, especially in this day and age.

She laughed at whatever carol was saying, lightly touching her bicep briefly before turning her attention back the child, rubbing her cheek affectionately with the underside of her thumb, cooing in her ear gently as carol made her exit, beginning to clean up the remnants of dinner as she always did.

It was only then that Daryl had come to realize he had barely even touched his dinner, he had basically spent the entire time staring and analyzing beth and every single move she made. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind as he attempted to focus on the stew in front of him, shoveling it into his mouth bite after bite.

It was stupid, and he knew it. Gawking at the girl like he was a damn high school kid, his eyes narrowing in on the sliver of pale milky skin that was exposed between her shirt and the waistband of her jeans. It was the very last thing he should be doing, and he was sure that if Hershel or Maggie caught him, they'd shoot him right where he stood.

He wouldn't admit it out loud, and more than likely he'd never admit it to himself, but the girl was creeping into his mind lately as more than just a little girl. More than Hershel's youngest daughter. More than just an acquaintance.

These thoughts were dangerous. And he knew it.

Not that he'd ever even _consider_ acting on his conflicting thoughts, but the mere idea of it made his head spin. Made him feel dizzy. Something he'd never had to deal with before. Ever.

Back before everything went to hell, he had never even given a woman such thought. All of the encounters he had with women were extremely brief, with little or no emotion involved, usually it lasted maybe about 10 minutes, rushed and meaningless in a bathroom stall or in the cab of his truck that would be parked in the parking lot of whatever sleazy ass bar merle managed to drag him to.

Whatever the hell kind of thoughts that had meandered themselves into his head involving the young blonde were new, nothing that he had experienced or even thought of before. They made him uncomfortable, and they sure as _hell_ were making him uneasy. He stabbed at the meat in the bowl of stew, taking his anger out on an inanimate object as usual as he tried to finish his meal quickly.

"What do you think, Daryl?" He jerked his head up at ricks voice, who was sitting across from him. It was only at that point that he realized that beth and himself weren't the only people in the room. Rick stared at him, trying to gage his reaction as Daryl fought with himself as to why he hadn't been listening to the conversation everyone at his table was invested in.

"Huh?" He replied, taking a bite of the stew.

"The fences." Rick said.

"What 'bout 'em?" Daryl pushed the bowl forward, placing his spoon right next to it.

"The reinforcements, do you think they'll hold?" Daryl grunted in response, he was sure that this was going to be addressed during the council meeting anyway, not wanting to really comment on anything while his mind was as clouded as it was currently.

"He ain't listen' to ya officer friendly," merle interjected, his feet perched up onto the table with a grin on his face. Rick let out a huff of frustration that clearly was directed at merle rather than Daryl, standing up and walking off towards beth, taking Judith from her arms with a smile. Daryl glanced in that direction before turning his gaze back to merle, who had the same sickening grin on his face as he had the previous day,

He raised his eyebrows at him, wondering what in the hell he was smiling about.

"I ain't stupid baby brother, you're lookin' at that girl like she's a piece of meat."

"I dunno what the hell you're talkin' 'bout." Daryl growled defensively, merle only laughed, sending his eyes to lock on something to the side. He followed his eyes, realizing they were locked on the current obstruction of his thoughts, the blonde pulling her hair up into a pony tail, turning on her heels towards the cell block. Daryl tore his eyes from her, only to find merle staring at him with amusement. If merle had caught it, he was sure others probably had. He grunted out of frustration, heading towards the library for the meeting.

* * *

"Here's where the corner pharmacy is." Rick said, leaning over the map spread over the table the council sat around, pointing to a particular cross street in Senoia. "Chances are it's been cleared out of the general basics, but it's worth a shot." Rick finished, leaning back into his seat rubbing his chin lightly.

"You think it'll have everything on the list?" Tyreese asked, looking around to the group.

"Hard to say." Hershel replied, "formula is the priority - Beth opened the last canister this morning."

"'S worth a shot." Daryl agreed, pulling his crossbow off of his shoulder and placing it on the ground next to him.

"Senoia's at least an hour drive from here." Hershel commented, crossing his arms across his chest.

"It is, but we've cleared everything else in the area at this point." Daryl countered, shrugging his shoulders a little. Hershel was right, it was a bit of a trip - honestly, a little farther than he would have liked, but the options closest to the prison were dwindling.

"So what's the plan, Daryl?" Carol asked.

"I'm thinkin' 'bout heading out here in a few days." Daryl said, chewing on the end of his thumb. "How are we on gas?"

"All the cars should still be relatively full." Michonne answered, "Nobody's touched any of the cars since we got back from the last run."

Daryl nodded, his eyes darting around the room as he spoke. "I'll take the cans, see if I can't find any cars we can siphon gas outta."

He was stalling. And he knew it.

He knew he had to speak up soon, in regards to beth. Trouble was, he felt his throat constricting every single time he even attempted to open his mouth about it. He knew the task ahead of convincing the group to allow beth to tag along wasn't going to be an easy one, in fact, it would be damn near impossible.

He was almost 100 percent positive that Maggie would probably have a conniption at the very idea of it, and Hershel would probably be against it as well, even though he might not be as vocally harsh as Maggie likely would be. But all of That aside, Considering everything he saw in beth the night that Zach had died, combined with the conversation he had with her earlier that very evening, he knew deep down that it was the right thing to do.

He felt strongly about the whole thing, He just wasn't sure how to bring it up.

"This can't be a solo trip, Daryl. You're gonna need someone with you this time since it's a little farther out than were all used to." Sasha said, interrupting his thoughts.

"I'll go with you." Michonne interjected.

_Alright Dixon, it's now or never._

"I was actually thinking about taking beth with me." He choked out.

Maggie's eyes darted over to Daryl first, followed by those of everyone else around the table.

"Wait, who?" Sasha asked. Daryl was pretty sure she heard what he said; she just wanted to make sure she heard right. Daryl took a deep breath.

_Here we go..._

"Beth?" Hershel asked warily. "I don't think she's cut out for that, son." Daryl shook his head in disagreement.

"She's only 'not cut out for it' 'cause she ain't been on a run since we got here." Daryl said, his eyes locking upon Hershel's, trying to gauge his reaction.

"Daryl..." Rick said, cocking his head to the side and furrowing his eyebrows a little bit, "do you think that's really a good idea?"

"The way I see it, girl needs to learn sooner or later how to protect herself. Sides, she'll be with me. I can keep an eye out for her." He said, leaning back slightly away from the chair.

As he read the looks on the faces of those around him, he wasn't surprised with what he saw; mostly confusion and disbelief. He was doing his best not to say anything out loud - but He'd be lying if he said it didn't piss him off that everyone treated the damn girl like she was made out of spun glass.

Was it really that hard to believe that she could do this? He suddenly became fully aware of why beth was so put off about the whole thing, he was seeing the looks they undoubtably would have given her if she even suggested that she could handle going out on this said trip. Hell, if he was mad at the looks he was getting, He could only imagine how angry it would make her.

"She can't even shoot a walker at close range, she's not ready for this kind of stuff." Maggie said, using her arms to gesture wildly in the air. He decided in that moment that Maggie was more than likely the one that made damn sure that beth was occupied at all times with something, that way she wouldn't have to participate in this kind of shit. And That pissed him off, too.

"That's why I'm gonna train her, the next couple a days, work on her aim, work on the walkers on the fences." Daryl said. Maggie let out a huff of frustration, sending daggers with her eyes at her father trying to get him to agree with her.

"Walkers aren't the only danger out there, Daryl. We still don't know the whereabouts of the governor at the moment." Hershel said, his blue eyes boring into Daryl's own with concern.

"I'll teach her some self defense." Michonne added. Daryl let out a sigh of relief and nodded in her direction, silently thanking Michonne for backing him up on this.

"I'm just sayin' the girls gotta learn how to take care of herself. If something happens to this place and she's alone out there - she ain't gonna know her ass from her damn elbow out there." Daryl said gruffly, starting to feel mildly annoyed that he even brought the whole thing up. The suggestion only seemed to be putting Daryl under a microscope in front of everyone, all eyes were on him, all but burning holes through his skin.

"Does beth even want to do this?" Glenn asked.

"After everything that happened with Zach-"

"Zach's a perfectly good example why she should not go out there!" Maggie cut him off, raising her voice and slamming her palm onto the tabletop. A few people from the table jumping slightly at her sudden outburst. Rick shot her a glance to get her to relax and she slumped back into the chair angrily. Daryl clenched his teeth and balled his fists around the back of the chair that he was straddling.

"Christ, if you would let me finish!" Daryl said, sounding angrier than he had intended to. "She came to me. Said she don't feel like she pulls her weight around here." Daryl said, avoiding Maggie's eyes.

"She does though," carol replied softly , "She takes care of Judith as her own, she rarely leaves her side. Taking care of a child is hard work."

"Yeah, that's the problem. she said she's tired of it. Tired of being good for nothing but being 'just the damn babysitter'. Her words - not mine." Daryl replied. He saw Hershel visibly deflate beside him out of the corner of his eye, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"I think Daryl's right." He finally said.

Maggie jerked up out of her chair.

"Daddy, you can't _possibly_ think-" Hershel held his hand up to silence her.

"Maggie dear, have you forgotten the conversation we had yesterday? Beth's about to be 19 - you and I can't keep her under our wings forever."

"She ain't a damn china doll." Daryl murmured under his breath, automatically chastising himself for it once Maggie sent him another death glare.

"Alright, alright." Rick said, standing up and getting everyone's attention. "I personally don't see a problem with it, but it's up to you Hershel. She's your little girl." And with that, rick got up and left.

Rick never really attended the council meetings unless it pertained to runs. He usually was out in the yard mending the fences, or working on the crops. He found being there during the decisions for the runs made him feel as if he were still somewhat involved in the decisions, even though he never went on them himself.

Hershel clapped Daryl on the shoulder as everyone filed out of the room.

He sat there though by himself for a moment, having a silent argument with himself between whether getting in the middle of things with beth was a good idea or not. He knew that he was right, the girl was 19 - as he came to find out during the meeting - and she knew just about as much about shooting a handgun as she probably did about balancing a checkbook.

He gave up, knowing it was too late to go back now, standing up and walking towards the cell block.

Daryl set off to find beth to let her know what the deal was, only to find out Maggie beat him to the punch when he heard her and beth yelling at each other from the confines of one of the cells.

"Beth you dont honestly think that you can handle this, do you?" Maggie yelled. Daryl rolled his eyes, coming to a stop outside of Beth's cell.

"God damnit Maggie, if you would stop treating me like I'm 10 years old maybe I would have came to you about it in the first place!" Beth yelled back, "but I didn't because I knew you'd freak out like you are right now!"

"Beth you don't know how dangerous it is." Maggie replied, lowering her voice slightly.

"The hell I don't!" Beth replied.

_Damn girls got a mouth on her._

"Why do you think you're the boss of me? That you get to decide what I can or can't do?"

"I'm looking out for you!" Maggie said, raising her voice again. "I don't want anything to happen to you!"

"So what? You're just going to coddle me like an infant until you're gone? And I'm just going to stay here in this prison babysitting the kids and Judith like I'm a nanny? That's bullshit Maggie and you know it!" Beth yelled back, her voice cracking slightly. Daryl didn't think he'd ever heard either of the sisters arguing like they were now, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't find it slightly amusing.

"Beth-"

"No, Maggie, I'm not listening to this anymore. Just back off." Beth said. He heard the slight shuffle of feet and Daryl froze momentarily as the curtain to her cell flung open and she came barreling out, crashing right into him.

"Woah." He said, grabbing her by her arms to steady her before she fell off balance. "You alright?" He asked. Beth opened her mouth to speak just as Maggie came out of the cell. Beth looked over her shoulder at her as she came out, sending her some sort of look that he couldn't see with her face in Maggie's direction. Maggie retreated, but not before sending Daryl yet another pointed glare, spinning on her heels in the opposite direction towards the dining area. Beth turned back to face him, her face flushed from from what he could tell was a mixture of anger and probably embarrassment.

"She wasn't mean to you, was she?" Beth asked him sheepishly, suddenly feeling guilty for putting Daryl in the middle.

Daryl sighed, realizing his was still gripping Beth's arms. He released her, jumping back a few inches.

"I gotta say, you Greene women aren't the most pleasant when you're pissed off about somethin'" he said, following Maggie's form until it disappeared away from sight. He let out a breath, somewhat relieved he didn't have to deal with Her, at least for the time being.

"I'm pretty sure y'all's mood swings gave me whiplash." He added, she smiled for a brief moment, swatting his arm playfully, and he couldn't help but smile in return. It didn't last though, her frown reappearing within seconds.

""I'm sorry, I shouldn't have put you in the middle of all this." She said, rubbing her temples. "Im not crazy, right?" She asked him, looking into his eyes for some form of approval. "I mean, I'm not wrong about this right?"

"Y'ain't wrong about nothin', Greene. Your daddy and your sister are just lookin' out for you, whether they're right or wrong." He said.

"Thank you Daryl. For, well, you know." She said, sending him a small smile as she looked up to meet his eyes with her own. Daryl found himself staring again, memorizing the small flecks of hazel in her huge blue eyes, realizing even though her face was flushed with utter annoyance towards her sister, she still looked beautiful.

Daryl tried hard to remember when exactly the transition of beth from a little scared and weak sixteen year old girl to the strong and striking woman in front of him actually occurred. He found himself trying to backtrack to the very seldom and unfrequented encounters the two of them had together, analyzing everything that he could remember, until beth cleared her throat. Her cheeks an even deeper shade of red than they were before.

_Jesus, keep it together._

"Tomorrow." He said to her, changing the subject quickly as to avoid anymore embarrassment on his behalf, "tomorrow morning, I'll come get ya, but no bullshit. You wanted this, but I ain't takin you unless I think you can handle it." He said, finally allowing himself to look into her eyes again, but this time, he was making sure she understood the terms of this 'arrangement' if they could even call it that.

She held back her smile as she realized that he had suddenly become uneasy when she caught his eyes lingering on her slightly longer than he normally would have. It was clear to her, ever since the night he came to her cell after Zach had died, that something had shifted. When he was around The air felt tighter, her cheeks burned hotter, and her stomach seemed to flip every time he spoke to her in his smooth southern drawl that was so.. so Daryl Dixon - and it was pleasantly sickening.

But damn if she could figure out what it was. He seemed to let his gaze linger on her more the past few days , now that she was thinking about it. she often caught him following her with his eyes every time they were in the same room; when she'd walk across the dining hall, or when she'd happen to pass by him in the hallway of the cell block as he was conversing with Glenn or carol. She wasn't exactly sure if he'd just started to do these things - or if this was just the first time she noticed it. Really noticed it. Whatever the case may be, things were different. _Very_ different.

But that was besides the point - She wasn't stupid - she knew that if things didn't go well, she'd never have another chance to prove her worth to anyone. Not to mention, she was pretty sure Daryl would never let her live it down. She'd carry that burden to her damn grave, that was inevitable.

This was her first and only shot, and she'd be damned if she didn't use it to prove everyone wrong.

She smiled, sending him a slightly sarcastic salute as she walked back into her cell.


End file.

Walking Dead, Drama, Romance